Youngster report – eighth week
KHL.ru continues to follow U23 players’ performances throughout the league. These are the best for the eighth week of action.
Danil Aimurzin
F, Severstal, 2001
Week stats: 4 G, 6 (3+3) points, +2
Aimurzin is having a tremendous season in Cherepovets, and last week he was one of the most productive players for the Steelers. Severstal has climbed up in the standings, winning three games of four in the period – including a key one over Dinamo Minsk. The game in Belarus was probably the best for Aimurzin, where he participated in both Severstal goals, netting the game-winner on the man advantage following a nice scheme where he got full advantage of smooth passing plays by Ilya Ivantsov and Ruslan Abrosimov. The former Salavat Yulaev forward also had two points in Severstal’s 3:4 loss to Lokomotiv on Oct 27, and contributed to the Steelers’ wins over Avtomobilist (4:2), helping the Ufa franchise having a good progress in the week.
Nikita Artamonov
F, Torpedo, 2005
Week stats: 3 G, 4 (2+2) points, even
Artamonov only had points in one game, but that was a record-breaking performance. Torpedo defeated Avtomobilist with a 4:2 score, and Artamonov played a part in all the goals – he scored two himself and assisted on two others. This is a new KHL record: previously, no under 18 player had ever scored four points in a single game. The previous record belonged to Matvei Michkov, who scored 3 (2+1) points for HC Sochi on Sep 6, 2021. In a total of 22 games this season, Artamonov has accumulated 13 (4+9) points, which is the second-best result among players under 18. Only Vladimir Tarasenko had more points at the age of 17 (17+11). Artamonov was also named the Best rookie of last week.
Nikita Grebyonkin
F, Metallurg, 2003
Week stats: 3 G, 2 (1+1) points, -2
Last season’s rookie of the year has finally returned to scoring points last week, ending a five-game drought when he netted a tally in Metallurg’s losing effort against Lada (3:4) – the forward was the fastest to convert in a goal a rebound left by the opposition goalie following an attempt by Dmitry Silantyev. Grebyonkin also had an assist when Metallurg celebrated a home victory over Barys on Thursday (3:2). The young forward is currently Magnitka’s second top sniper, tied with Denis Zernov, at eight goals, trailing only Pavel Akolzin and his 10 tallies.
Alexei Kolosov
G, Dinamo Minsk (2002)
Week stats: 3 G, 2 W, 91.55%, 1.98 GAA
The Belarusian netminder is again emerging as Dinamo Minsk’s starting goalie and last week, he helped his team winning twice in three games – only allowing two in Minsk’s defeat to Severstal (1:2). Kolosov was particularly good in Dinamo’s victory in Astana, when the Belarusians achieved a hard-fought, OT win. Dinamo Minsk collected another win with Kolosov between the piping when the team traveled to Omsk, with the young goalie stopping 21 shots in his team’s 4:3 victory. On Tuesday, as said, Kolosov’s twenty saves weren’t enough to guarantee the Belarusian side a win – the Steelers had the best of it, moving away with a 2:1 score. A loss in regulation meant no points in the standings for Dinamo Minsk, but Kolosov had a strong performance, once again stopping more than 90% of his shots. The Belarusian side is currently the sixth seed in the West and it’s on a good position to return to the playoffs once again.
Arseny Gritsyuk
F, SKA, 2001
Week stats: 3 G, 3 (2+1) points, +1
The forward has finally started producing points on a serious level as he had a rocky start of the season. Last week, Gritsyuk was on a three-game scoring streak, potting tallies in SKA’s losses to Eastern Conference giants Avangard (3:5) and Ak Bars (2:3). In the game against the Hawks – with whom he lined up until last year – Gritsyuk was very active, totaling eight shots on goal. SKA also lost to HC Sochi earlier in the week (4:5), with Gritsyuk posting his fourth assist in the current season. SKA’s season is still a slow one, but if Gritsyuk will keep this scoring pace, the team will have a chance more to rebound back.
